Silvio’s sexy secretaries stun Wall Street

From European Voice's Entre-Nous column

10/1/03, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/23/14, 8:26 PM CET

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s premier, has been speaking his mind again. Extolling the virtues of his country to the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, the current head of the EU’s rotating presidency offered two compelling reasons why US business should invest more in Italy: one, because it has the most “beautiful secretaries” and, two, because there are “fewer communists” than before. If inward investment soars in the next few months, you’ll know why…

Meanwhile, EN was intrigued to learn that both Berlusconi and his nemesis Antonio Di Pietro, the Liberal MEP campaigning to have the multi-millionaire’s immunity from prosecution lifted, share the same star sign.

Both celebrate their birthdays this week. Believe it or not, the sprightly Silvio turned 67 on Monday, while Di Pietro hits 53 today (2 October).

That makes them Librans and, according to a profile published on the BBC ‘Teens Horoscope’ web page, those boasting an opal or aquamarine as birth stones are good at “patching up problems between mates and always seeing both sides of the story”. Really?

There is something splendidly parochial about the state-aid investigation launched last week by the European Commission’s competition department into JC Decaux, a French advertising company. The question …